Shaking things up outside the vicious election cycle
By Simon Sheikh
When considering the importance of acting outside an election cycle, we must first consider whether these cycles really ever end. Politicians campaign indefinitely, and that can be a good thing for those campaigning for change. Politicians are constantly seeking our approval – responding to polls and seeking to shore up votes – no matter how far away an election is. Certainly, politicians listen to us more intently during the weeks leading up to an announced election. But all that means is that we have to speak louder outside this period, and when we do, we can certainly achieve the same aims.
Voting, while arguably the most powerful way of holding our representatives accountable, isn’t the be-all and end-all. There is much we can do to shape political outcomes and indeed, some of our biggest wins have come outside the direct election period. Take for example the fight to legalise the early contraceptive medication known as RU-486. The drug was banned in Australia in 1996 but a campaign was waged and a bill passed, lifting the ban and transferring power of approval to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Working with the peak body Reproductive Choice Australia, GetUp coordinated a national petition calling on all Federal parliamentarians to end the ministerial veto over the use of the drug RU486, and let the experts decide whether this drug should be available in Australia. In 2006, in a very rare and quite wonderful occurrence – we met with female senators from all five of the major parties to present a petition. This campaign, while waged not in an election year, successfully took the politics out of medicine.
So too was our campaign to end the unjust and ineffective “detention debt” regime imposed on immigration detainees. This policy saw the Government charge ex-immigration detainees for their time in detention, at the rate of around $125 a day. At the time, Australia was the only country in the world that charged asylum seekers for their detention costs. But a bill passed in 2009 ended that practice, and waived all existing debts for current and former detainees. It wasn’t simple thought – with that bill in danger of not passing due to opposition from the Coalition and Senator Fielding. With the bill set to face a vote, a GetUp delegation descended on Canberra with affected refugees. It was enough to tip the balance and the law overturning this crippling policy was passed. Just another example of what can be achieved outside the small window we’re provided with every three years.
Importantly, we need to remain active outside the election campaign not just because policy victories can be achieved, but because policy victories must be achieved. Some things just can’t wait three years for action. Chief among these is climate change. Without action, in the next three years we will reach an irrevocable tipping point and that will have a devastating impact on the environment and our economy. We need action now, and GetUp and others will continue to fight despite the fact an election might be three years away.
That said, the uncertainty delivered by this election means we could be back at the polls at any moment. With this in mind, we must stay engaged and active. We must stay on top of the decisions being made and we must stay on top of our politicians. They will sink as low as we allow and only rise as high as we demand. To this end, we should all be active outside an election cycle and work to keep our representatives honest.
Simon Sheikh is national director of GetUp! GetUp is an independent, community advocacy organisation attempting to enlist like-minded people who want to bring participation back into democracy.
